|
June 14, 2005
Dear Dennis,Southern Oregon University needs to make a commitment to the internal development of the young men of this campus. AIM (Accountability in Men) can be part of this work. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to serve on the committee that helped to launch the first pilot for AIM this past winter. AIM works because it comes from the hearts of men and reaches to the hearts of other men. John Stoltenberg, author and feminist, understood this. He called it men's moral identity, and said "what I mean by moral identity is the part of ourselves that knows the difference between fairness and unfairness, at least in some shadowy way. It's that part of ourselves which is capable of weighing what we see, what we do, what other people do, in terms of some sense we have of what justice should look like. It's a part of ourselves that is capable also of living beyond gender, and it sometimes does. It's also the part of ourselves that is nearest our experience when we are feeling deep remorse and pain over the suffering and injustice that we see in the world." (Refusing to be a Man: Essays on Sex and Justice, 1989) Stoltenberg understood that the tools of justice are internal and alive in all men. As Coordinator for the Women's Resource Center, I am acutely aware of the level of intimate violence facing campus women. I receive and compile the aggregate numbers of confidential reports of sexual misconduct. I listen to assault victims who come to the Center for support and advocacy. Male violence is so hurtful. AIM's mission and yours most deeply, of guiding the young men on this campus towards their own integrity is clearly a tall order. For a number of the young men who will participate in AIM, accountability is a distant concept that has very little to do with the tangible reality of their daily lives. Please understand that I do not offer you these thoughts as discouragement. I really am a feminist to my core, and that means a transformation of women and men. On a personal level (because the personal is political), I am motivated out of love for the men and boys in my life who are met with an offensive on-slaught of macho stereotypes and dispassionate violence as preparation for manhood. I'm interested in any effort to help men's consciousness expand out of these narrow and debilitating confines. I'm also motivated out of love for women and girls. Men who are capable of kindness, self-reflection, and connection to others are good for women. Safety, community, and freedom are all served by male transformation. Let's make AIM part of SOU's annual commitment to a just and caring world. Deltra Ferguson, Ph.D. Coordinator, Women's Resource Center Southern Oregon University |
 |
